Event: OLP Parish Carnival
Where: Our Lady of Peace Church; New Providence, NJ
Primary Ride Operator: Blue Sky Amusements
Dates: 5/13/09 – 5/16/09
If you want to check out some setup pictures of this fair, hop on over to this post.
I’ve been going to this fair every year since before I can remember. It used to be a little rinky dink affair featuring atrocities like the Skydiver, Scat and Cobra…sometimes even at the same time! However in recent years it’s been getting progressively better and this year it was probably the biggest fair to date. This year’s line up was…
- Zipper
- Himalaya (Wisdom version)
- Riptide (an ARM Ali Baba)
- Round-Up
- Gravitron
- Scooters
- Sizzler
- Chair Jet Swinger (or just Swinger)
- Big Wheel
- Berry Go Round
- Super Slide
- Two funhouses
- A myriad of kiddie rides
- A selection of greasy treats stands
- A bunch of ‘chance wheels’ and carny games
- Several vendors
So yeah, there was quite a bit there! Blue Sky Amusements brought nearly every ride they own actually. The rides were packed into the medium sized lot with little room between them but still enough room to not disrupt the flow of fairgoers.
Where to start…well, the Zipper was a nice addition this year. The Zipper used to make regular appearances at this fair back in the early 90s but it’s been absent ever since then. On Friday and Saturday night, I noticed that the Zipper crew had a duel queue line going where riders would file in both entrances so two cars could be loaded at once.
The Swings, located right next to Zipper, have been at the fair for years now under two different owners I assume. On the other side of Zipper were the Scooters, a very small bumper car ride with way too many cars. One of my friends commented that it should have been re-named Rush Hour.
The Himalaya, a smaller Wisdom model, seemed to have been tricked out this off season with strobe lights, sound effects and a very loud air horn. The ride also made use of the ‘canned mic man’ which spewed out automated lines such as “let me hearyaa, make some noyeze!” and “the ride’s not over, we’re going backwarrrrdsss.” Uggh…the fake mic man is annoying! Here’s a video with the canned mic man if you’re not sure as to what I’m referring to.
The Round-Up was in very good condition for a Hrubetz model with a yellow/pink/blue/green color scheme with *gasp* working lights! It also raised to a really steep angle; definately the best ‘old’ Round Up I’ve ever seen. Right next door was a standard Sizzler ride which seemed to run a little faster than others I’ve seen. In other words, it ran at a normal speed because most Sizzler ride are slower than heck.
Next to the Sizzler was Gravitron, which seemed pretty standard aside from the words “Blue Sky” being arranged in the light board above the ride. The last major ride was Riptide, an ARM Ali Baba with a surf theme. The ride was decked out with LED lights that flashed in many sequences, but the ride itself looked sort of slow. The only other large ride at the fair was a 65 foot gondola wheel which anchored the right side of the fair nicely.
The fair also had a long row of games like chance wheels, a shoot out the star game, hit the X with Y games, that dumb “pick up a rubber duck and see if you won” game, and the mandatory squirt gun game. Inside the school gymnasium were a sit down restaurant area, vendors and “new and used” items for sale.
All in all it was a nice fair with a lot of good stuff!
